


Growing Pains

by akashinu



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Angst, Ba Sing Se, Bisexual Jet (Avatar), Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Heavy Angst, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Iroh is a Good Uncle (Avatar), Jet (Avatar) Is An Asshole, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:49:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29972796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akashinu/pseuds/akashinu
Summary: Zuko was not the same person at 26 that he was at 16. For better, in his opinion.Old habits die hard, though, and old feelings sometimes never die.Companion to "Every Day Without You Passes Too Slowly", but can stand alone.Part 3 of the Lovely City Boys AU.
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko, Jet & Zuko, Past Jet/Zuko - Relationship
Kudos: 5





	Growing Pains

Zuko ran his fingers across the ceramic bowl of the teapot in front of him. He held it firmly by the handle and made his way to the counter in the back where his uncle was preparing the next batch of green tea.

Uncle Iroh looked up at him and smiled lovingly. “Thank you, Zuko.”

“No problem, uncle.” Zuko gently placed the teapot down on the counter.

“It really makes a difference having some help around here,” Uncle Iroh mused. “It’s really a shame that you can’t be here to help me all the time.”

Zuko made his way back to the table in the front of the store. “I’m happy to give you company as long as I am stationed here.”

He tried to count the weeks on his fingers. He had come to Ba Sing Se on that god awful carriage trip almost two months ago. He still had three months of diplomatic work left to go before he could return home. That was more weeks than he even had fingers!

“Tomorrow’s Friday, you know, let’s live a little!” one of the patrons suddenly declared to his partner. The two of them burst into laughing only a few feet from Zuko.

Zuko froze. It was indeed Thursday night. He had completely forgotten to respond to Sokka’s letter. He had to mail his letter by Friday evening so it could get on the next cargo fleet to Capital City or it would get delayed by another month. Sokka might as well assume he had died in that much time. 

He groped around for his satchel and tore a sheet of paper from his notebook. Fortunately he had a pen in his pocket from earlier in the day.

Zuko took a sweeping glance around the store before he started writing. He hoped he wouldn’t be needed for the next hour or so.

_ What even happened in the last month? _

Zuko busied himself in writing something or other. He hadn’t remembered to take pictures of the city like he had promised Sokka, but it didn’t matter. Just letting Sokka know he was still alive was enough for him. He made a mental note to buy a disposable camera on his way back from work. 

Someone opened the door to leave the shop. Zuko’s eyes immediately went up to the door. A figure hurried by, driven by some kind of unseen purpose. Zuko’s eyes were immediately drawn to the metal plates on his shoulder.

Zuko’s eyes widened. The pen fell from his hand.

“Zuko?” Uncle Iroh asked from behind him.

Zuko noticed he was visibly shaking. He placed his palm flat on the table and turned around. “It’s nothing, Uncle.”

Uncle Iroh got up from his stool and stretched his back. He made his way to where Zuko was struggling to continue writing his letter to Sokka. He placed a hand on Zuko’s back, feeling the man flinch under it.

“You seem tense, Zuko. I’ll close up tonight.” He started towards the rows of chairs and tables.

Zuko immediately pushed his stool back and stood up. “No, Uncle, you need to rest. I can handle it.”

Uncle Iroh waved him away and grabbed a chair by its legs. He hoisted it up to the table with a small grunt. “Don’t worry about me. I really need to stretch a little-- I’ve been sitting back there all day. Go home and go to sleep. You have work tomorrow morning, don’t you?”

“Fine,” Zuko grumbled. He tucked his half written letter to Sokka into his bag and hung it over his shoulder. 

* * * 

Zuko hadn’t expected the street sign to catch his eye like that on his way to the Jasmine Dragon after work the next day. It was plain and unassuming, just a simple metal pole with faded writing on the strip that hung from it. It barely even read the street name anymore. He remembered being sixteen years old and sneaking around after dark when the streets had finally grown quiet. This was not his first time at this junction, though it was probably the first time he had ever come here alone. Those were the days before he had anyone to send letters to, though. That street and its quirks were best left in the days before he properly met Sokka.

Zuko briefly glanced around him before entering the street. He couldn’t remember it being this lighted.

The number ‘3002’ was the only thing in his mind. Zuko listened to his footsteps echo down the quiet street. It felt wrong, in a way.

Before he knew it, Zuko found himself in front of a cement apartment complex. It looked almost the same as any other on that street. The metal gate in front of the building had rusted by now, bright red against where the black coating remained. He looked up to the third floor and tried to see if he could make out anything familiar.  


_ “You’re kidding, Lee, you’ve seriously never rode a bicycle before?” _

_ Lee blushed. “Should I have?” _

_ Jet playfully shoved him to the side. “Did you not have a childhood?” _

_ Lee didn’t know how to respond. He tried to stay as close to the truth as he could. “Not really,” he admitted quietly. “My father was really hard on me when I was living with him.” _

_ “You’re cute.” Jet tousled Lee’s hair, his fingers lingering for a moment too long. He bounded up to the metal gate of his apartment complex and slipped it open. “Wait here a moment. I’m gonna give you a childhood.” _

_ He emerged from the building only five minutes later with a shiny silver bicycle. “I only bought this like two days ago. It was a sign, huh?” _

_ Lee made his way to where Jet was standing. He didn’t really know how to feel about the metal contraption between them. “How do I ride it?” _

_ Jet snatched the bicycle closer to him. “You’re just gonna hurt yourself if you try to ride it by yourself.” He swung one of his legs over the seat. “It’ll be easier if you sit.” He patted the seat. “I can peddle for you.” _

_ Lee eyed Jet skeptically. There was no way the two of them were going to fit on that small metal frame. The seat itself was probably barely the size of his palm. His heart stopped when he thought about being that close to Jet. Their bodies right on top of each other as Jet rode them around the street. Getting on the bicycle suddenly seemed so much more appealing. _

_ He hesitantly put one leg over the metal frame and leaned his weight against the seat. The bicycle immediately began to tip to the left. Lee lurched forwards and instinctively put his hands around Jet’s waist as he brought them back upright. _

_ “You’re eager, huh?” _

_ Lee blushed again, grateful that Jet was facing away from him. _

_ “On the count of three, put your legs out to the sides and grab on,” Jet instructed. “One, two, three!” He immediately jumped onto the pedals and drove them forwards into the street.  _

_ Lee’s legs hurt from being so stretched out, but he knew that the two of them would immediately fall over if he so much as touched Jet’s legs with his feet. It was strangely freeing. There was a slight breeze against his face and he was right up against a boy who liked him. It was a dream come true. _

_ The bicycle slowed down and started to tip to the side again. Jet skillfully released himself from the pedals and jumped off the side. Lee, and his wishful fantasizing, went crashing down against the cobblestone. _

_ Jet dusted himself off and chuckled. He gently pulled the bicycle towards him, making sure to accommodate Lee getting himself back together. He winced as he put weight on his right leg. Both boys faced each other smiling.  _

_ “Are you hurt?” Jet had never been this concerned for him. _

_ Lee shifted his weight between his legs. “I’m okay. I don’t think it bruised or anything.” _

_ “Good.” Jet paused. “I don’t want my prince getting hurt.”  _

_ Lee’s heart was racing. “If I’m a prince, then what are you?” he blurted out. He immediately regretted it. _

_ Jet smiled and raised his arms up to show off the plates on his shoulders. “Well, I’ve basically got armor so I guess I’m your knight in shining armor.” He slowly closed the distance between them. “I could definitely get used to that.” _

_ Lee quickly pressed his lips to Jet’s in a chaste kiss. He wasn’t sure how long he had wanted to do that, but damn did it feel good.  _

_ Jet’s eyes widened at the contact. They pulled apart as quickly as they had come together, though neither wanted to.  _

_ Lee immediately shrank into himself. The last time someone had kissed him, he could do nothing but run away, completely repelled by the physicality of it. And yet here he was, having initiated the contact himself, and with a boy, no less. He wanted nothing more than to run back to the Jasmine Dragon and bury his face under a blanket. “I-it’s getting late,” he stammered. “Uncle’s going to know if I’ve been out for too long.” He turned to run back to the main street.  _

_ “Wait,” Jet commanded. Lee turned around to face him. “Wanna meet here tomorrow evening when you get off work?” _

_ “Sure.” _

_ Lee got ready to leave Jet behind. He tried to mentally prepare himself for the conversation he would have to have with Uncle when he got back, but he knew he could probably make up something believable. He heard metal scrape on metal and turned around to see Jet standing his bicycle against the gate to his apartment building. Jet ran up to Lee and took his hand. He gently squeezed Lee’s hand and placed a small kiss on his lips. _

Zuko felt a shiver go up his spine. He almost hoped Jet would open the window and wave at him from his apartment. Zuko didn’t even know if Jet still lived there. He could see an outline of silver on the balcony of one of the third floor apartments. Wherever he was, did he at least still have the bicycle?

Whatever Jet was up to in his life wasn’t supposed to matter to him. Zuko had Sokka now, and he had his uncle’s unconditional support. It was more than he had thought he would ever get when he was seeing Jet. 

Zuko looked up into the sky. It was getting late. It was a Friday evening, which meant that Uncle must have already made dinner. He hurried off to the comforting atmosphere of the Jasmine Dragon, hoping that he would forget all this after a couple rounds of tea.

* * * 

It was Monday night and Zuko wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. The only thing that took as much energy out of him as his day job did was waiting until the last customer had left the shop so he and Uncle could close up. He considered getting up and stacking the chairs on the far side of the tea shop just to make a point. He eventually decided against it. 

Zuko rummaged in his satchel for something to fidget with while he waited. He pulled out the disposable camera that he hadn’t set up yet. He figured he would do it when he had something to take a picture of, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t taking any pictures because he didn’t have a working camera yet. He slowly opened the box and snapped the film roll into the plastic body. At least he would feel a little more motivated to take pictures. 

The bell on the door rang and Zuko immediately sat up. He gritted his teeth. It was almost 10 o’clock and he just wanted to go to bed.

He tried to look friendly. “Sorry, but we’re not taking any new customers.”

“Lee?”

Zuko’s eyes immediately widened. He knew that voice all too well.

“Jet?”

Zuko stood up to get a better look. Jet was standing in front of him in all of his rugged glory. His hair was still spiked in a thousand directions and he still wore the same shoulder plates. Zuko’s face felt hot and he looked away for a second.

Zuko did not want to be the one waiting on Jet. He mentally kicked himself for wishing they could talk again.

He took a deep breath and walked over to Jet’s table. He focused on the middle of the table and tried not to let his eyes wander. “Tonight we have a selection of chamomile, lavender and magnolia teas. All are good for relaxing the body this late at night, though I strongly recommend the lavender tea.”

Jet tried to look into Zuko’s eyes. Zuko was not having it. “I’ll take the lavender then.” He waited until Zuko started to walk away. “Only if you drink it with me, though.”

Fifteen minutes later, Zuko made his way back to Jet’s table with a teapot and two cups. He placed the items in the middle of the table and hesitantly sat across from Jet. 

Neither of them moved. Zuko shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “You want me to pour it for you too?” he asked callously.

Jet leaned back against the back of the chair. He gestured towards the teapot. “You know more about tea than I do.”

Zuko gritted his teeth as he poured the tea into both cups. It was taking all of his self control to not set the table on fire. He pushed one cup forwards towards Jet and settled back into his chair.

“Lee, you disappeared on me,” Jet stated calmly. “You told me you were going to meet me by the corner of my street but you never came. I assumed you got taken away or something.”

Zuko took a sip from his cup. “First of all, my name isn’t Lee.” He paused. “It’s Zuko.” 

“Zuko?”

“Zuko. Former Prince of the Fire Nation”

Jet was taken aback. He took a moment to compose himself. “I should’ve known you were Fire Nation.” The pain was still evident in his voice. He took a sip from his cup and made a face. 

“I wanted to tell you, but we had so much on the line back then that it made more sense to keep it quiet.” Zuko tried his best to diffuse the tension in the air.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t rip you apart for lying to me and stringing me on.” It was as if Jet hadn’t even heard him.

Zuko’s hands were balled into rapidly heating fists under the table. His thighs tensed up. The balls of his feet dug into his shoes. “I’m not going to fight you inside my uncle’s tea shop,” he growled. “You came here to see me. Now if you’re going to continue to be an asshole, I suggest that you get up and leave right now.”

Jet immediately sat back when Zuko threatened him. “Fine.” His voice dropped. “But you’re on thin fucking ice.” 

Zuko’s face heated up. He cleared his throat. “Now that you’ve found out all of my secrets, what about you? What’ve you been up to?”

“I work in construction now. It’s a good job. Steady pay, decent benefits, I don’t mind it.” 

“That’s good.”

“What’ve you been up to?” 

Zuko didn’t know how to say it. He had already bruised Jet’s vision of him with his previous statement. “I’m on a business trip. I’m just here for a few more months.” 

Jet didn’t move. He barely even showed any response. Zuko wondered if he had completely blown it. His fingers crackled with flame below the table. He tensed his legs. 

“You seeing anyone?” 

Jet’s question hit him out of left field. “What?” He didn’t mean for it to come out so rudely. 

“It’s a simple question. Are you seeing anyone?” 

Zuko was sweating. He took a sip of lukewarm tea. “I have a boyfriend back home. We live together. He’s a sweet water tribe guy.” Zuko chuckled nervously. He’s actually the big brother of that girl you used to talk about all the time. Katara.”

Jet burst into a wide smile. “That guy? You’re kidding!”

“Yup.” Zuko finally let go of the tension in his shoulders. “It’s a small world, huh.” He gestured vaguely towards Jet. 

“Yeah, no kidding.” 

“Are you… seeing anyone?”

Jet leaned back in his chair. “Nothing serious right now. I hook up with this one guy pretty regularly but we’re not like together or anything.” He drew his eyes up to Zuko’s. “Though if you wanna come over sometime while you’re here, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” 

Zuko stood up to leave. “I can’t. We’re exclusive.”

Jet placed his hand on the table. “I’m not even saying we would do anything. It would be like old times, I promise.” 

Zuko was already walking away. “I don’t want to.” 

This was not what he wanted. This was not what he thought he was going to get. He might have put up with this at sixteen, but it was nothing but strange now. How did he even manage to like this guy as a teenager?

Jet got up and followed Zuko to his table. He placed several bills in front of him. “This should probably cover it.” 

Zuko examined the bills wordlessly. He reached into the drawer on his side to count the change.

“Keep the change,” Jet teased. He turned around and left as unceremoniously as he had come. Zuko tried to wave, but sat there as stunned as he had been earlier. 

* * *

Zuko busied himself in stacking the chairs. He could finally go to sleep once he got this row together. His mind was still frozen on his encounter with Jet. 

He and his uncle hadn’t spoken since Jet left. Zuko maintained that there was nothing to say about it. 

“I knew you were seeing someone back then, but I didn’t think you would have liked to be with someone so rough.” 

Zuko turned around to look for his uncle. “Uncle, you knew?”

Uncle Iroh emerged from behind the counter. “I had a feeling. You were never very good at lying about where you were going late at night.” He paused. “I wasn’t going to stop you, though.” 

Zuko grabbed the next chair and lifted it up over the table. He broke out into a nervous smile. His uncle had been nothing but wholeheartedly supportive when he had introduced Sokka to him as his boyfriend for the first time. That was also at least four years after he had last seen Jet. 

“It feels strange to finally see him after all this time,” Zuko said to break the silence. “I’m not really sure what I found so appealing in him back then.”

Uncle Iroh nodded silently. “Sometimes when we are trying to heal from an experience that has deeply hurt us, we end up becoming attracted to the very thing we were trying to heal from in the first place.” He looked for Zuko’s eyes. “The real sign of growth is understanding what is not healthy for us and taking steps to replace it with something that will help us in the long term.” 

“I guess so.” 

Zuko put up the last chair and stretched his arms over his head. 

“Go to sleep, Zuko. I’ll take it from here.” 

“Goodnight Uncle.” 

Zuko wandered out onto the street in silence. He strangely missed the peace of night in Ba Sing Se. It was under the peace of night where he and Jet would talk and dream together while walking these same streets. The peace of night where Zuko could be both gay and a prince, at least for now. Sixteen year old Zuko did not know yet that there were better things coming for him. Zuko wanted nothing more than to reach back into time and hold the child that he was and comfort him through the growing pains to come.

**Author's Note:**

> This is quite different from what I'm used to writing, but I like it! I think I need to get the angst out of my system before I start writing all the fluff I teased earlier in the series. If you've read my Zukka letters series "Every Day Without You Passes Too Slowly", this encounter would take place between Letter 7 and 8. 
> 
> Let me know what you think on tumblr @akashinu :)


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